SC Analytical Note, 1 July 2026
Reform Proposals on Decision-Making at the WTO: Mapping the Consensus Debate in the light of the Marrakesh Agreement
By Vahini Naidu
This Analytical Note maps the consensus and decision-making proposals advanced in the pre- and post-MC14 WTO reform communications in the light of the Marrakesh Agreement. For each proposal it asks the same question: if the proposal were adopted, what in the Agreement would have to change, and through which legal route? The submissions are sorted into four analytical groups according to their effect on the consensus rule, and for the proposals that engage the Agreement’s text, the Note identifies whether the route is amendment, authoritative interpretation, a change to the Rules of Procedure, or an arrangement outside the Agreement, and sets out the procedure the Agreement prescribes.
The Note shows that Article IX:1, the consensus rule, and Article X:9, governing the incorporation of plurilateral agreements into Annex 4, are both entrenched by Article X:2, so that an amendment to either will take effect only upon acceptance by all Members.
A plurilateral agreement concluded and implemented outside the WTO requires no amendment to the Marrakesh Agreement. Article II:3 has no bearing on such an agreement until it is incorporated into Annex 4, and only that step of incorporation engages Article X:9 and its consensus requirement. The authoritative-interpretation power under Article IX:2 cannot be used to undermine Article X and therefore cannot substitute for amendment where the object is to change the consensus or incorporation rules.